For the roughly 3,000 Democrats who filled the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell on Saturday, the party's platform convention offered a first look at the 2014 governor's race, with four candidates now formally announced.

"We're blessed to live in a state with a lot of Democrats," said Wilmington delegate Michael Spinale. "I'm looking for the next Deval Patrick, someone who's not necessarily the establishment candidate."

Among the contenders Spinale and other Massachusetts Democrats have to pick from so far in next year's primary are state Sen. Dan Wolf of Harwich, former Wellesley Selectman Joe Avellone, former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Don Berwick and state Treasurer Steve Grossman, who announced his candidacy Saturday morning.

"I want to hear from them all," said delegate George Bell of Ayer. "We need to just listen and hear what they have to say. Some of the things they've been saying -- justice for minorities, justice for everybody -- those are a lot of the things that are important."

State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, of Acton, fell in with the undecideds but said he plans to make his choice within the week.

"I'm looking to see how they distinguish themselves," he said.

As the day's keynote speakers, Wolf, Berwick and Avellone each had a chance to introduce themselves to delegates after discussion of the platform. Grossman spoke in the morning, as did Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose name has been suggested as another likely gubernatorial candidate.

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Coakley's 2009 lawsuit against the federal government over the Defense of Marriage Act, struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month, was a point in her favor with Spinale.

"That was Massachusetts leading the way," he said.

Berwick found a supporter in Robert Fleischer, a Groton delegate.

Fleischer said he met Berwick at a reception Friday night. Berwick seemed genuinely interested in Fleischer's work at a company that creates Braille transcription software, Fleischer said.

"He certainly speaks like a candidate I'd like to see as governor, and he's a good listener," Fleischer said.

The Newton pediatrician also made an impression on Lowell delegate George Brooks, who said he was impressed with the Berwick campaign team's response when he brought up his health-care concerns.

"I've been dealing a lot with Social Security, and I'm finding a lot of my mental-health clients, they're having a hard time getting care," said Brooks, an attorney practicing out of Cambridge. "These people really need help."

Across the arena, Wolf's business experience as founder and CEO of Cape Air resonated with John Tehan of Milford. To Tehan, that background makes Wolf a viable general election candidate.

"There isn't a Republican anywhere who can tell him what a corporation can or can't do," Tehan said.

First-time delegate Judy Gentry of Leominster said she was mostly taking it all in, but was pleased to see Wolf wearing a button reading "Corporations are not people."

The founder of Winter Warmers, a charity that distributes hand-knitted items to the homeless, Gentry said she wanted to see candidates committed to fighting poverty.

"We gave out 2,300 items last year, but the need is so much bigger," she said. "We deal with a lot of veterans, and a lot of people who are homeless, even though they're working."

Pittsfield delegate Brian Morrison, sporting a lanyard and t-shirt from his union, Local 509 of the Service Employees International Union, said he planned to back Grossman.

"I think he's done a great job as treasurer," said Morrison, president of the Berkshire Central Labor Council. "He's a guy that says what he's going to do, and delivers."

Echoing a common theme among both candidates and delegates, Morrison pegged the need for jobs as the most pressing concern facing the state.

"The economy remains to be the biggest issue, in every community," said Ayer delegate Jane Morriss, who entered the arena "with an open mind" in terms of candidates.

"I think we need to increase the minimum wage," Morriss said. "I think that people who work 40 hours a week should be able to put food on the table and a roof over their head."

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